Bright Future
by ManxoChu
Summary: Commander Jack Archer finds that he does indeed have a future, but not exactly what he expected. SW/Robotech Crossover. -=Work in Progress=-
1. Prologue

Bright Future

A Star Wars/Robotech fanfic

By ManxoChu

Disclaimer:  Star Wars and its characters are property of Lucasfilms.  Robotech and its characters are property of Harmony Gold.  Idea for this fic is strictly owned by ManxoChu.

-=Prologue=-

Jack Archer felt it.  He felt it time and time again.  During the global war, when he flew with--and sometimes against--the legendary pilot Roy Fokker.  During the conflicts of the Robotech War, where he fought against the Zentraedi.  He felt it.  As best as Jack figured, it was some sort of 'pilot sixth sense' that allowed him and some of his comrades to live.

_Looks like my sense... and luck... has finally run out, Jack thought.  __I don't even know why I opted for the Super Veritech Armor.  It's not like I knew this would happen.  I don't even know how I convinced Commander Chase to let me use the SVA__ on the ground.  His solo mission was to infiltrate Zen City, a rather fortified Zentraedi encampment, and "take care" of Zeraal, the maniacal leader of the Earthbound Zentraedi miscreants.  Upon nearing the ruins of a Zentraedi cruiser, Zeraal activated the SpaceFold engine, hurtling them far beyond any means of rescue._

_If I'd known Zeraal wanted a battle like this in space, I woulda worn my spacesuit.  At least he's gone, and that's what matters.  He couldn't help but draw the logo of the RDF on his now-frosted cockpit canopy.  His red and white VF-1S was roughed up pretty bad.  The port wing was torn in half in between the fuselage and the RDF logo, with the remainder of the wing about ten meters away.  Main systems were failing before he'd gotten the final shot that killed Zeraal.  All missile racks were depleted, and maybe a few rounds left in the GU-11 gunpod.  __My first mission as Wolf Leader is gonna be my last.  Well, looks like this Wolf's gonna be put down.  But with the major Zentraedi threat gone, the future's gonna be bright...  even if I'm not there to--wha?_

It might had been the lack of oxygen, but as if to cue in on his thoughts, the canopy did indeed start to brighten from an outside source.  With what little strength he had left, he wiped as much frost off to see the source.  _A ship?__  Here?  He felt the sudden shifting of his craft in an upwards and backwards direction, at least based on how he was seated.  The jarring motion didn't help him much in his condition.  Knowing he was on his last legs of conscious thought, he noticed the large ship was neither RDF or Zentraedi in design.  __Great...  MORE aliens...  Can't let them take me or the ship...  His intention was to activate the self-destruct device, in order to protect the secrets of the RDF's elite fighting machine.  To his dismay, the SD device was knocked out as well._

All Jack Archer could do was clutch his laser rifle to his chest with the safety off before he finally succumbed to the oxygen-deprived void, but not before his craft hit a metallic deck and heard his slowly-opening canopy.


	2. Chapter 1

Bright Future

A Star Wars/Robotech fanfic

By ManxoChu

Disclaimer:  Star Wars and its characters are property of Lucasfilms.  Robotech and its characters are property of Harmony Gold.  Idea for this fic is strictly owned by ManxoChu.

-=1=-

"No one's going to believe this."  General Antilles couldn't help but laugh at this situation.  Throughout the Yuuzhan Vong crisis, he'd seen and dealt with all sorts of situations.  Four standard hours ago, it had been a normal day.  When he touched the cold metal of this unknown craft, a snubfighter of sorts, he knew this was a new day with new situations.  "But then again, must people wouldn't believe that the _Millennium Falcon would fly.  Jaina, think she'll fly?"_

Jaina Solo couldn't believe the shear power in such a craft, and she already was itching to get her to fly.  "Sorry, General, but many of the computer systems had failed and needs replacing.  The port wing needs replacing, the hull needs repair, the ammo needs replacing, and that's just the easy part."

"That's the 'easy part'?  What's the hard part, besides the obvious?"  The sound the hull made when he knocked on it gave him a good idea of the grade of metal.  However, he frowned at the materials used for the canopy.  "And who would use reinforced _glass for a spaceworthy craft, anyway?!"_

"Begging your pardon, Uncle, but despite the rudimentary materials used, this appears to be a good snubfighter."  Jagged Fel tossed a hydrospanner from between the topside boosters.  _Which I'm sure Jaina would love to try out for herself.  "From what Jaina and I have gathered, this ship has had many missions under her manifold.  I just find it odd that there's no hyperdrive."_

Wedge's jaw dropped.  "Earlier you said there were no shields, and now no hyperdrive?  Well, it's certainly doesn't look like a ship from Sienar Fleet Systems.  She looks too battle-worn to be a prototype as well.  Effee, any luck with the written language?"

FE-3PO shook his head.  "As far as I can determine, the writing here…" He pointed at the writing just below where the canopy would be resting. "…this appears to be the name of the pilot.  From the data that wasn't erased onboard, I've been able to deduce that the language is similar to Basic.  The grammar and syntax are almost identical, but that's as far as the similarities go."

Jaina poked her head out of the cockpit.  "Effee, would it be possible to teach the pilot Basic?  I'm sure he's not a Gamorrean in the brains department.  He and his ship would make a good addition.  Whoa, there's not even an accelerator compensator."

Jag almost fell out off the fighter.  "There's no compensator as well?  Intriguing, to say the least.  So with no shields, no hyperdrive, no compensator, and who's knows what else he's missing, and he's still alive.  He must be one incredible pilot."

"Or he has an immense account at the Bank of Luck.  It's been four hours now, so maybe our new friend is awake.  Have Zraii take a look at the craft.  I'm sure he'll find the ship to be _truly fascinating.  Just make sure he logs all his findings.  I'm very interested in the weapons systems, myself.  She appears to be some sort of missileboat, but we have to be sure.  Effee, Jaina, with me please."_

During the seemingly short trip towards the medbay Jaina shot a glance at Effee and Wedge.  "General, I hope I'm coming along for a _good reason.  As much as I liked checking out the craft and wanting to meet her daring pilot, I've got my own duties to tend to."  Wedge gave her a quick grin._

"Jaina, you know just as well as I do that he's one of us."  She didn't like that grin one bit.  The gleam in Wedge's eye made things worse.

"A pilot?"

"And I'm sure that if he'll open up to-"

She fumed at the thought.  "I get the holo.  I just hope he's easy on the eyes."

"See?  I knew you'd understand."

"Ha ha."  Their reverie was quickly broken by the sound of blaster fire from the medbay.  A quick sprint had them quickly greeted by the sight of the guard on the ground, clutching his smoldering left shoulder, and the shooter drawing a bead at Wedge.  Jaina could feel the pilot's confusion and anger boil over like her previous pot of caf.

"Nroho kxo robb um A?!  Nroho'j mo jxaf?!"


	3. Chapter 2

Bright Future

A Star Wars/Robotech fanfic

By ManxoChu

Disclaimer:  Star Wars and its characters are property of Lucasfilms.  Robotech and its characters are property of Harmony Gold.  Idea for this fic is strictly owned by ManxoChu.

-=2=-

_I'm alive.  Guess I'm still lucky.  Jack felt his senses slowly coming back to life.  His touch told him he was in a warm bed with hospital-grade linens.  His sense of smell disliked the scent of disinfectant in the air.  His tastebuds only told him that he was in dire need of some water, or at least a cold beer.  His hearing gave him the feeling he wasn't on the base, but his memory also served to remind him that.  As he looked around, the sight was one he couldn't believe.  __What the hell is going on?  He thought he should let the person at the door know his thought._

"Hey, officer, where the hell am I?"  The question was almost a raspy whisper, thanks to his parched throat.  Still, it was enough for the person to turn around, with a bewildered expression on his face…  and a laser pistol in his hand.  Jack was shocked for all of two seconds before acting.  _Gotta use the confusion to my advantage.  He feigned a stomach ache, doubling over to the ground.  __C'mon…  C'mon…  Get close, you idiot.  The guard lowered the pistol and came over to help the pilot up.  __Sucker.  Jack sprang from the curled position to deliver an uppercut to the guard's face.  Fist connected to jaw, sending the guard to the floor.  In a swift motion Jack grabbed the pistol and turned for the doorway, but not swift enough for the guard grabbed his ankle._

"Dammit, I have no time for this!"  Jack took aim and fired at the guard's left shoulder.  He cried out in pain and let go in order to hold his shoulder.  "Sorry, pal, but I have a plane to catch."  Jack gave a quick salute before bolting out of the door.  The run for freedom was brief, for his direction was blocked by a man, a woman-a very pretty one in fact-, and a… _What the hell is that?  Hmph, whatever, gotta find my ship.  He quickly aimed for center-mass at the man.  "Where the hell am I?!  Where's my ship?!"_

The man Jack was aiming at didn't give a reply.  Well, he did, but Jack certainly didn't understand it.  _Great…  I'm on a foreign-speaking ship.  This'll be fun.  "Ummm…  se habla Espanol?"  More gibberish from the trio.  "Dammit…  uh…  Parlez-vous francais?"  More headshaking and gibberish were their reply.  "Crap!!  Uhhh…  Sprachen Sie Deutsch?"  Once again, gibberish was their reply.  His anger was reaching the scale of Mt St Helens'.  "Oh c'mon here!!  Do any of you speak a damn word of English!?  Do ya?!"  At that point, the robot, at least that was Jack's guess, came in front of the man he was aiming at._

The bot pointed to himself.  "I…  FE-3PO.  We… are…  friends.  You?"  Then the bot pointed at Jack.

_Okay, this is progress.  Okay, Archer, make the next few words really count.  "I'm Commander Jack Archer, RDF pilot and Leader of Wolf Squadron.  Take me to my ship."  The robot paused for a while.  __Uh oh… that pause ain't good._

"Ah, I see.  What an interesting language you have, Commander.  I am FE-3PO, human cyborg relations.  This is General Wedge Antilles and Lieutenant Jaina Solo."  Effee pointed towards the lovely young lady when he mentioned the third name.  "We mean you no harm, and we understand the confusion, but please put down the blaster pistol."

Jack couldn't the resist the snort that came out.  "Confusion?  _You're the one I've met so far that can speak English.  And for your information, I'm not putting down the gun til you take me to my ship.  Got it?"  The bot turned towards the other two and started speaking gibberish again.  "Oh, and don't think about prepping an ambush, cuz the moment I see it, I'll shoot the old man here."  Effee nodded then spoke with the other two again.  To speed things up, Jack fired a shot at the floor near Effee's feet.  All three jumped slightly.  "Now we'll have enough of that.  Effee-Threepio, I want you three to lead me to wherever my ship is, and in silence.  I won't have any of you conspiring against me.  You can translate that to them, but after that it's silence til I'm outta here, okay?  By the way, is your full name really 'Effee-Threepio, Human Cyborg Relations'?"_

During the trip to the hangar, Jack was shocked and amazed at all he saw.  Various aliens, some of which he was certain were figments of his imagination.  He wasn't on the SDF-1 when he executed her Space Fold to Pluto (they were only intending to fold to the moon), so this was his first real time to travel within a space vessel.  There were a couple of men and women he saw that had tails growing right out of their heads.  _And no Zentraedi… well, at least no full-size Zentraedi.  I wonder if anyone of these guys ever even heard__ about __the Zentraedi at all.  No surprise they don't know about Earth and the RDF.  We've only gone as far as Pluto… but that was by accident.  Hey, Effee-Threepio, how long til the hangar?"_

"Just past this door, Commander.  I'm afraid that your ship is in more or less the same shape as it was when we fou-oh dear."  Effee saw his memories flash before his optic sensors.  Jack ran around the group to see what made Effee say that.  Color immediately drained from his face and almost lost his ability to stand.  Before him, his VF-1S with the F.A.S.T. packs (or Super Armor in laymen's terms) was in a partial state of disassembly.  The port wing, or what was left of it, was completely removed.  The ship was on her landing gear, but it only served to show the gunpod was removed, as was the Super Armor, nose cone, and canopy.  All repair hatches were open, with wires and parts hanging out of them.  One of those hatches had a small robot with a domed head near it, with the little guy attaching various wires.  Jack turned around and leveled the pistol at Effee.

"What have you done to my ship?!?!"  In Jack's anger, he never heard the _snap-hiss sound, nor did he see the speed of the attack.  Before he could even pull the trigger, half of the pistol loped off, leaving him with merely the trigger, grip, and thankfully his whole hand._

Jaina landed behind him.  She had no choice when this Cmdr Jack Archer aimed the blaster pistol at Effee.  Sure, Effee could be repaired, but around here even droid life is precious.  In what truly only took less than a second, she had ignited her lightsaber, jumped in a graceful arc over Effee, turned and sliced the blaster perfectly in mid-jump, and landed with no trouble, having the end result of her facing Jack's back.  Jack had turned to see what happened.  For a moment, he was changing glances between Effee, her, and her lightsaber.  Unfortunately the color that had left his face previously was quickly returning to his cheeks, and in tenfold.

 "…Xen tat oei te kxuk?  …Uhwx!!  Xen tat oei te kxuk?!"  Jaina deactivated her lightsaber while waiting for Effee's translation.

"Tell him that anger will not help him and that we only want to help."

Jack listened to Effee's translation then walked past Jaina and over to his ship.  _I finally get you, Wolf One, and look what's happened to you, girl.  I'm so sorry.  He placed his hand on the RDF logo then patted the same location.  __I hope these guys can fix you.  We're all we have now.  He gave the craft a quick kiss before turning back to his former hostages.  "I'm sorry.  She's all I have now.  Flying and fighting while flying is my life.  Please don't destroy the Wolf One."_

It didn't take much of Effee's translation to understand Cmdr Archer.  She felt his pain and sorrow.  She felt the connection to flying and his machine.  She fully understood how much that war machine meant to him.  An idea struck her, and she acted on it.  "Come with me, Effee."  With that, she grabbed Jack's arm and pulled him over to her X-Wing.  She saw the awe and curiosity in Jack's eyes.  She saw him touch it softly as if the hull were made of the finest Corellian silk.  She  handed a hydrospanner over to Jack.  "Go ahead, hit it."  Upon Effee's translation, Jack shook his head almost violently.  "Really, Jack, hit it.  It's to show we're sorry.  We should have waited until you were awake and could ask for you permission."  Jack gripped the hydrospanner tightly for a moment, a very long moment.  She could feel his comtemplating the situation.  Sure, had she been in Jack's shoe, she'd of done it.  No one would get away with taking apart her X-Wing without her permission.  She'd been so deep in her thoughts that it took Effee shaking her to snap her back to reality.  "Say again, Effee?"

"Cmdr Archer was asking why do you fight.  Should we tell him?  And he's also asking if there's anyway for him to get home."

_I don't know if I can answer that, Jack Archer.  If we can't get you home, we want you to join us.  We need every pilot-every warrior-in this crisis.  "Tell him that we'll do what we can for both him and his ship.  I'm sure he'll want to talk to Wedge.  Actually, I think Wedge wants to talk to him about joining us."_

"Very well, I'll help in any way I can.  I see about giving you and the General datapads concerning his language."

"Te oei xulo udo veet?  A'm xidwho."  Jack clutched his growling stomach.  Jaina giggled and motioned for Jack to follow her, because she didn't need Effee's help to translate what he asked.


End file.
